A Million Dreams
by SKLewis
Summary: After a mission, Bruce discovers something very interesting. A dream he'd never considered and a future they'd never hoped for. Follows Canon up to and thru Age of Ultron but Bruce never left and he and Natasha are together. Could contain spoilers.
1. Chapter 1

Bruce walked slowly to the gym. He really wasn't sure how to tell Natasha what he'd found out and he was just a little afraid of how she was going to react. Deep in thought, he ran into Steve. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"I'm fine. You don't look fine. Something on your mind?" Steve walked beside him.

"I just need to talk to Natasha about something."

"She's training with Wanda right now." Steve knew about Bruce and Natasha, even though they weren't exactly open about it. "Just tell me you're not going to break up with her. Clint would kill you if she didn't."

Bruce shuddered inwardly remembering the fun time Clint Barton had cornered him and told him to take care of Natasha or else. "No, no, nothing like that. I think we're fine. We just keep to ourselves and keep mostly everyone else out."

Steve laughed. "Mostly everyone knows. They just mind their own business because they're scared of her."

Bruce stopped and looked at him. "Seriously? I'm the Hulk and they're scared of her?"

Steve shrugged. "Well, have you seen in her action? She may not turn green but Nat is a force to reckoned with."

He could not deny that. He had seen her in action more then once. They reached the gym and there she was, in action once again. At least this time there was no bad guys, just a Sokovian orphan who looked like she'd rather be anywhere but on the sparring mat with the Black Widow.

"Hey, Nat, let me have a turn. Can't let you have all the fun with our new recruit." Steve stepped toward the mat.

Wanda looked slightly relieved at this change in partners. She'd learned quickly that Natasha was relentless and a perfectionist, Steve expected the same but was a bit kinder as an instructor. He tossed her a water bottle, which she barely caught, "Take five, then we'll run laps." She glared at him and laid down right on the mat, too tired to move. He turned toward Bruce, "Natasha is now free."

Bruce wanted to glare at him too like Wanda had, but reminded himself he was not a teenage girl. He cleared his throat as Natasha did in fact stare at him expectantly. "Oh, um, I had something to talk to you about. But if you're busy, you know, we could do it later."

"Well, since Rogers has taken my student, I'm now free as he said." Natasha swiped a water bottle out of Steve's bag. "So, you needed me?"

Um, I think it'd be better if we talk alone." Bruce was suddenly very nervous. How was he supposed to explain the impossible to her anyway?

" If you insist. I should probably head toward the showers anyway. You want to wait for me, should we talk first, or...? " She left the last trailing, her meaning obvious.

He hesitated. "Go ahead and shower if you want. A few more minutes won't matter." And it wouldn't, he knew. "Meet me in my quarters when you're ready."

"All right. Give me ten or so."

Bruce paced his quarters while he waited, thinking about what to say. About what to do. He didn't know how she'd react, or how he was supposed to react. The knock on the door startled him. He was still not prepared for this anymore then he'd been fifteen minutes earlier when he had found her in the gym.

He opened the door, Natasha was standing there in clean dry clothes but hair still wet. "I didn't think you'd mind if I didn't blow dry my hair, you seemed pretty anxious to talk to me." she said, walking in and not waiting for him to say anything.

"No, no, I don't mind. It's your hair, do what you want." he answered, feeling stupid about it.

She glanced at him. She thought he was acting even dorkier then usual but didn't say so. It was usually rather endearing to her but this time seemed strange.

" All right so um, you know, how after we did that last mission and I insisted everyone get that bloodwork done because we were potentially exposed to certain diseases and I thought it was a good idea to get everyone checked just in case because you never know and it's better if you catch these things before they become big problems? And not all of us have super serum like Steve, you know? " Bruce said in a rush, sitting on the chair opposite Natasha.

" I'm following. I'm not sure exactly where you're going with this unless you're going to tell me I'm sick which wouldn't be a big secret. " she answered.

" Yeah, no, you're not sick. Have you been feeling sick?" he leaned forward, closer to her.

"No. Why would I be?" she was now completely lost as to where he was going with this conversation.

"Okay. That's good, that's fine." he leaned back and took a deep breath. This was harder then he thought it was going to be.

"Bruce, what is going on?" Natasha asked him.

"I've read the results several times, even ran the tests twice. I just don't know how it's possible." he raked his fingers through his hair.

"How what is possible? You just said I wasn't sick so what is it?" she demanded.

"Nat, you're pregnant." Bruce finally burst out.

"Impossible. Absolutely impossible, I told you about the graduation ceremony." she didn't believe him, which he understood, he didn't quite believe it either.

"Look, you can read the results yourself. Somehow someway, it is possible." he gave her a folder, thick with papers. He'd printed every result.

"It's impossible. You've got it mixed up with somebody else's."

"Nat, there's only two women here. And unless Wanda is sneaking out at night, I don't think so. Besides, I ran hers again too, just to be sure." Bruce had thought of that already.

"I see that." Natasha was quiet, looking through the papers. The damning evidence was written in black and white right before her. It shouldn't be possible, it couldn't be possible, even with the proof in her hands, she was having a hard time believing it." Bruce, this isn't possible. It just isn't. I mean it, that ceremony is final, no way possible. Nobody who has gone through it ever gets pregnant."

"I can't explain it. I don't know how to explain it. I can do further tests, an ultrasound, but the blood work is pretty conclusive at the moment."

"Yeah, let's do that and then figure out what's going on because this, this is impossible." she threw the folder back on the table.

"The past few years we've seen some pretty impossible things happen. This doesn't seem so unbelievable compared to an alien army attacking New York or an entire flying city. Ordinary people in ordinary relationships have babies." Bruce tried to make sense of it for her.

She snorted." Except neither of us is ordinary and I don't know if this is considered an ordinary relationship by original plan was running away, which we didn't do."

" Still could, although I'm thinking now there could be a wrinkle on that plan. Natasha, whatever this ends being, it'll work out. Somehow. " He wasn't sure exactly that the Hulk should be anywhere near a child even if was his. Hulk was too unpredictable.

" You are seriously considering the two of us setting up and playing house? Do your damn tests, because it's got to be something else. " she stood up to leave.

"Hey." he grabbed her hand. "I'll do the tests, we can do them right now, but you might want to prepare for the impossible."


	2. Chapter 2

Realized I never put in an author's note in the first chapter, sorry. Also this chapter is mostly dialogue. It's going to hopefully get more action then two people talking :)

I usually do not write or read alternative universe stories. This one would not leave me alone until I wrote it. It's inspiration comes from two things, the song A million dreams from the greatest showman and an interview I saw with Scarlett Johannsen where she said she'd love to do some kind of alternative storyline where Bruce and Natasha got to be together. Also it's my NaNoWriMo project :)

They had Bruce's lab to themselves, he'd even shut the blinds and locked the doors. He didn't want her to be any more nervous then she already was, even if she wouldn't admit it. Natasha Romanoff did not admit to being scared or nervous ever but Bruce knew her well enough to see behind her walls, at least some of them. He wasn't sure even Clint had seen behind them all.

"First test is easy." He handed her a narrow white box. "Just take that into the bathroom, do as the instructions say, and wait for to change colors. Blue is positive, pink is not."

She took the box without a word and did what he said. "Takes about five minutes," he called after her.

Natasha shut the door behind her. She looked at herself in the mirror. "Give it up, Romanoff. This isn't going to happen and you know it. This happens to ordinary people with ordinary lives and relationships, not you." she told herself before ripping off the plastic of the white box. "It isn't even possible." she muttered as she read the instructions. "Pee on a stick. A person actually needs instructions for that?"

Bruce waited outside, impatiently. He resisted the urge to knock as he was pretty sure that would not earn him any points with his girlfriend. She was already on edge as it was. He'd already set up a doppler, he thought she might react better to that equipment then a full ultrasound.

Natasha leaned against the narrow sink and waited. She closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see her watch. She was sure Bruce was just outside the door, squirming impatiently. She couldn't face him yet, couldn't even begin to face the fact that it could be real. How it could be, she didn't know. Bruce would probably come up with some scientific answer eventually.

Five minutes seemed to last an hour while she struggled with her thoughts. Unsure of what to do if the impossible became true, unsure she and Bruce even should have a child, it wasn't like they were ordinary people with ordinary jobs. An assassin and the Incredible Hulk, yes, perfect parent material, she mused. They weren't Clint and Laura, they weren't going to set up house in the middle of nowhere and settle down. She shook her head. It didn't matter anyway. It wasn't going to happen. It couldn't, she knew that. It was the entire point of the graduation ceremony after all.

The timer on her watch went off. Natasha opened her eyes and sighed. Time to face it one way or another. She wasn't even sure what she wanted it to say anymore.

It was blue.

Bruce and Natasha sat together in the lab, silent. Everything pointed toward the impossible.

"How?" she broke the silence.

Bruce had been thinking about this. "If we were ordinary people in an ordinary relationship, would you be asking that?"

"Of course not. It would be possible then."

"Exactly. So um, I've been thinking on it. I don't know exactly what the ceremony did physically to you, but most sterilization isn't 100 percent guaranteed. And then um there's me. Or rather the Hulk. I don't know what the gamma radiation could do to me or to you regarding fertility. I would think it'd render me infertile for sure but I didn't plan on the Hulk either so I'm not, "

" So you're telling me this now? That you're like supercharged because of gamma radiation? What could that potentially do to a baby, Bruce? " she interrupted, getting angry.

" Well. I don't know. I never thought it would matter to tell the truth." Wincing inwardly he realized now the folly of that thinking.

" For how long we've been together and you never once even considered this? " she wasn't yelling, afraid they'd be overheard, but was struggling not to.

" You said you couldn't get pregnant, remember? Why would I have? " he pointed out.

"So it's all my fault? Seriously, you're going to play that card, like we're a couple of teenagers?" she scoffed at that excuse.

Bruce sighed. "No, I'm not playing that card. I'm just saying I had no reason to believe it could happen and neither did you."

"I know. What do we do now?" she buried her head in her hands.

Bruce pulled her closer to him. "What do you want to do? Since we're not a couple of teenagers, I don't have a ring or anything."

"Seems like a dumb reason to get married anyway." she mumbled into her hands. She looked up at him. "Bruce, if, and this is a big if, if you can make sure everything is all right and it's not like, a mini Hulk, or something, I want to keep it. I'm probably going to be pretty lousy at the parenting thing but I want to keep it."

"Nat, I'll do my best to make sure it's as healthy as can be. No mini Hulks or anything." he promised her.

"This is insane." Natasha leaned into him. "We're sitting here discussing having a baby like we're normal people with normal lives."

"Clint has three." Bruce pointed out. "He has the same kind of job."

"Laura doesn't. I'm not going to be a stay at home housewife like her, you know that. Besides, Clint retired." she retaliated.

"I could retire. Let you be the Avenger, I'll just be a scientist." Bruce wished it could be that easy.

"I guess we have a lot to figure out." Natasha had no idea where they were supposed to go from here but at least they'd do it together.

Dinner at the compound was something of a loud affair when everyone was home. There was nearly everyone this night except for Tony, Pepper had insisted he had to attend meetings in the city, which he hated. He much preferred to be at the compound, living that superhero life with everyone else. Rhodey too had been called by the Army for official business, which he also would have preferred being with everyone else.

Vision was cooking. It was odd how he liked to cook since he couldn't eat. Sam was helping him although it seemed more like annoying the synthoid. Steve and Wanda were already at the table, the latter setting the table using her telekinesis powers much to Steve's amusement.

Natasha stopped right before the doorway and turned around. Bruce went after her. "It's dinnertime, Nat, not a warzone."

"I don't want to tell them yet."

"Okay. Then we don't have to. But we do need to eat dinner."

"Steve is going to want to know why you were looking for me earlier. What am I supposed to tell him?" she asked.

"Whatever you want. You're a spy, surely you can come up with a simple lie."

"Bruce, in the past half hour my entire life as I knew it has turned out to be something of a lie so I'm not really thinking right now." Natasha was on the verge of a bit of a meltdown.

"Okay, okay. Tell you want. I'm going to text Steve, tell him we decided to go out to dinner. That's why I was looking for you earlier. See? He'll believe it, everyone will." Bruce pulled his phone out of his pocket. She watched him text a short message and put the phone away." There. Now let's actually go out. We could head into the city if you'd like. " He put his arm around her.

" Pizza. Then tomorrow we're taking a quinjet." she told him as they headed outside.

"Why? We going somewhere?"

"Yes. To the farm. I have to tell Clint first. I don't want him to hear from anyone else." she explained.

A/N 2 I've just seen I have FOUR alerts for this story. Very cool. Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

Bruce woke early the next day. He was a bit unsure how this day was going to go, the first person they were going to tell. He was reasonably sure Clint wasn't going to accidentally on purpose shoot him or anything. He hadn't hurt Natasha in any way, thus giving Clint no reason to hurt him. Standing at the window he stared outside, lost in thought.

"Clint doesn't hate you. You know that. He'll probably buy you a beer and terrify you with baby stories. And he's got some terrifying ones." Natasha came up behind him, holding two mugs. "Don't let him tell you the one about Cooper and the croup. Or the time Lila needed stitches in her chin. Or Nathaniel bumping his head so many times it had a giant bruise and Laura refused to take him anywhere for fear someone would think he was abused." she handed him one of the mugs.

Bruce took it, staring slackjawed at her."Um. I don't think I know anything about babies."

"Mr Seven PhDs actually has something he doesn't know anything about?" Natasha seemed to be in a better mood this morning, which he was grateful for.

"None of them are about babies!" he pointed out.

She raised her mug in acknowledgement. "Like any of my training is?" she sighed. "Bruce, what the hell are we doing?"

"We are, we are grabbing a bit of normalcy for ourselves." he wasn't really sure either.

She nodded. "Yeah. Think we can do it?"

"Why not?" he didn't mention the fact the Hulk was still an issue, that they had no idea what or if the gamma radiation could do to Natasha or the baby, that they were still Avengers and he could see the headlines now - Black Widow + The Hulk = Baby! He winced inwardly. Once everything was a go, he was definitely having a chat with Pepper about the press. Their child was not fodder for the gossip rags.

"Before we go, you said you wanted to do another test." she said, taking another sip from her mug.

Bruce wasn't sure how she was going to take this next one. It wasn't difficult by any means but it would bring everything into reality for good. "Yeah. I, um, I thought it would be a good idea to do an ultrasound. It'd be good to have a better idea how far along you are, it's like getting a picture of the baby, you know, check things out."

"I know what an ultrasound is, Bruce, you don't need to explain it. You actually have one of those machines here? Why?" she was taking it in stride, better then he'd hoped.

"They have more uses then just for pregnant women. Besides, Tony, he likes to have all the toys, he never knows when he might want or need something." Bruce explained. "There's a catch though."

"Which is?" a bit of wariness was added to her tone.

"It's down in medical. I could bring it up to the labs but 1, it'd be hard to hide and 2, I have no reason to bring it up here. They'd ask questions."

Natasha nodded, slowly. The third catch he didn't mention was that there was no real way to hide themselves or what they were doing in the medical facility." But it needs done, doesn't it? "

" It would be a good idea. I mean, the other tests were positive, so it isn't for confirmation. We already know. It's up to you, but its the best way I know to judge how far along you are. I assume that's an important bit of information so Laura can plan the baby shower. " Natasha's eyes widened in absolute shock at that and she nearly spit her coffee out. Bruce laughed." You know she's going to, probably rope Wanda into it, too." he added.

She swallowed the coffee hard." Yeah, Laura will. I had to go to the one for Nathaniel. Please don't make me go to another. They're completely ridiculous. If they want to give gifts, fine, but no stupid party. "

" Normal people have baby showers. This is normal. We're doing the normal thing now. " Bruce said.

" You can keep saying that, doesn't make it true. "she pointed out. Glancing down at her watch, she spoke again," If we go down to medical now, Steve, Sam and Wanda should be outside running laps. Well, the guys will be, Wanda will be trying to get out of it. Vision likes to observe, so nobody should be anywhere near medical."

"Let's go down then. We should get the first official picture of the first official Avenger baby." Bruce was having fun with jokes, but he was secretly still worried. What could the Hulk or the gamma radiation he'd been exposed to do to a developing fetus? He really didn't know and he didn't like not knowing.

" You're lucky there's still coffee in this cup or else it'd be thrown at your head." Natasha answered, darkly.

Natasha had been right. Medical was deserted. "Hopefully, nobody will come in and ask why I've drawn the curtains." Bruce said, pulling the privacy curtains around a bed.

"They'd just assume we're playing doctor, I would think." Natasha throw a zinger at him. "Unless it's Vision. He has no concept of privacy."

Bruce stopped his preparations for a moment. "Technically, he's not human and doesn't understand the need for of privacy."

"He walks through walls. Or at least he did, until he tried it on Wanda and she reemed him good for it." That had been almost funny, to see the destabilized Vision being flung back through the wall after he'd startled Wanda one night.

"And being almost human, he's learned from that. He doesn't try to sneak up on people anymore, especially her." Bruce didn't think he'd try to sneak up on the little witch either. He hadn't quite forgotten what she'd done to him in South Africa. He finished plugging in the machine and turned it on. It was usually kept in a closet, not out on the floor as it wasn't generally needed. Mostly, the medical unit was used for stitches and concussions, nothing super serious. He supposed he should get some obesteric items ordered, he was sure Natasha had no intention of setting foot in a different doctor's door no matter how many NDAs were signed. "All right, up on the table." After a moment he turned around. Natasha was still standing in the corner. "Nat, it doesn't hurt. It'll be, like, ten minutes, and then we can go straight out to the farm if you want."

She came toward him, it was only a few steps, but she took her time. This was going to make it real and it terrified her, though Natasha Romanoff never admitted to being terrified to anyone ever. She'd been taught admitting fear was weakness in the Red Room and that lesson had never left her even after all the years she'd been out of there.

Bruce let her take her time. He was just terrified as she was, although, like her, he also wouldn't admit it. Curiosity was getting to him, however, and he wanted to know how far along she was, what sort of damage might the baby have if he could even tell this early, he was fairly certain she wasn't very far along since she didn't seem to be showing any.

Natasha sat on the paper covered table feeling very uncomfortable. "Actually, Nat, I'm going to need you to lie down, please." Bruce was taking a doctor's tone that she didn't appreciate but she kept her mouth shut and did as he asked.

He gelled the little wand and pressed it to her lower abdomen. An odd rushing sound came from the speaker and Bruce couldn't help but smile." You know what that is?" he asked her. She shook her head. "Baby's heartbeat. Sounds good." He hadn't had much obesteric practice in the past but he thought he was doing all right for now. They shared nervous smiles as he moved the little wand around. He was definitely going to have to do some brushing up on being an ultrasound technician he thought but didn't say. He hit the photo button a few times as he moved the wand, snapping the first official photos as he'd said earlier.

Studying the screen Bruce recalled his first and only time reading a pregnancy ultrasound and tried to remember what he'd been taught then. "Something wrong?" Natasha broke into his thoughts.

"Hmm? No, no, it looks fine. Really does. I was just trying to remember something. I'm thinking you're close to two months, which I guess would make sense." They'd been together longer then that but two months would work. "We're done here." He gave her the photos that had printed like old school Polaroids and a paper towel to clean the gel off herself.

She took the photos and simply stared at them a while.

AN - Yay, reviews, thanks so much! Also my only experience with an ultrasound was in a hospital so sorry if any of that was a bit off. Next chapter they head to the farm, hopefully that'll go up on Sunday.


	4. Chapter 4

Clint had seen the quinjet coming from the east long before he had any idea who was on board. He hoped it was Natasha, just wanting a visit with her family, rather then Fury telling him another part of the world was on fire and wouldn't he please be unretired? Nat would be welcomed as long as it wasn't business.

He picked up his radio to try to get ahold of whoever it was before they landed. "This is Hawkeye, over. Who's coming in?" silence for a few long moments.

"Clint, it's me. Bruce and I thought it'd be fun to surprise you guys." Natasha's voice crackled over the radio.

"Sounds great. ETA?" Clint was immediately suspicious. Surprises were not Natasha's thing and he still wasn't entirely sure about the thing with Bruce but as she told him the last time he'd said anything, she was a big girl and could make her own decisions. Since he was quite positive she could kick his butt, he'd backed off and shut up. She knew where to find him if she needed him.

"I'm thinking twenty minutes we'll be at the front door." Even over the radio, Natasha's voice sounded off to Clint. He wondered what this surprise visit was about as he walked downstairs to tell Laura and the kids.

"Hey, guys, got a surprise for you!" he said to them.

Cooper never looked up from his video game but Lila ran right over to her dad, "What is it, what is it?"

"Auntie Nat will be here in twenty minutes!"

"Yay, yay, yay!" Lila did a little dance and ran out to the porch to wait.

"That's unusual for Nat, not to call first." Laura remarked when Clint sat down next to her on the couch. "I mean, she's family, she doesn't have to call, she just always does."

"Yeah. I don't know. She just said she and Bruce thought it'd be fun to surprise us."

"Bruce has been good for her. She needed someone." Laura adjusted the baby in her arms.

"She had us!" Clint protested.

"Still does. But she needs more then just this."

"Still don't entirely understand the whole thing. Seriously, Nat picks Banner? Makes no sense." he shook his head.

"You don't have to understand. You just have to continue being her best friend like you always have." Laura told him, for what felt like the thousandth time. Sometimes she felt like she really had four children instead of three. "But tell her to bring Bruce when she and Wanda come for Christmas."

"You keep inviting everyone, we're going to need a bigger house." Clint joked.

"This time, there's enough beds. Nat and Bruce in her room, Wanda can have the smaller guestroom or the den, whichever she wants. Unless she's bringing someone too, then it's definitely the guestroom." Laura began planning out loud, even though Christmas was still months away.

" She's not. Let's just get through this visit, this very strange surprise visit before we start planning holidays. " Clint didn't even want to consider Wanda bringing anyone, she was a kid so far as he was concerned.

Just then Lila's happy screaming filled the living room from the porch." She's here, she's here. Auntie Nat is here! " her boots pounded down the porch steps with thudding sounds as she ran to meet Natasha and Bruce.

"Guess we're about to find out," Laura stood up and moved to put the baby Nathaniel in his playpen.

Bruce lowered the back hatch of the quinjet and picked up the two duffels. He was not quite comfortable with the idea of spending a weekend at the Bartons, he didn't know them very well, but had resigned himself to the fact if he wanted Natasha, he got her family too. He spotted a pigtailed little girl, Lola? Lily? Lila!, running towards them.

"Auntie Nat, Auntie Nat!" Lila was shouting. She came to a sudden halt as she saw Bruce. "I didn't know you were coming too." she said. "Daddy didn't say."

Bruce opened his mouth to answer and Natasha stopped him. "This is Bruce. He's my friend so I brought him to visit with everyone."

"Okay." Lila shrugged. Grown ups were weird sometimes. Like she didn't know Auntie Nat really meant this was her boyfriend? "Your room is ready like always."

"That's good." Natasha hugged the little girl tightly. "Now, is everyone home today or just you and your dad?"

"Everybody's here. Even Cooper." Lila skipped slightly ahead of the couple.

"You have your own room here?" Bruce whispered. He didn't remember that bit of information from their little pitstop the last time.

"Have for years." she whispered back. "It's the one place in the world I'm just cool Auntie Nat, I don't have to be anyone or anything. Clint and Laura already know everything and the kids don't need to."

"Laura has that kind of clearance?" Bruce was skeptical.

"I have no idea what kind of clearance she has. She needed to know, I told her."

He nodded in acknowledgment. It made sense to him. Natasha let her walls down for very few people in the world, and if Laura was one of them, then he was sure she was someone worth knowing.

They approached the house and Lila threw open the door, slamming it into the wall.

"Lila Edith, how many times do I have to tell you not to slam the door like that?" Clint came outside.

"But Auntie Nat is here! And she brought a friend!" Lila leaned close to her dad, "She thinks I don't know it's her boyfriend."

Clint stifled a laugh. There wasn't much a person could get past Lila. "That would be because it's none of your business."

Lila shrugged and continued to skip into the house. She was sure she was right anyway.

"So, a surprise visit, huh?" Laura walked out to greet them. "That's great! You'll have to at least stay for dinner this time. Maybe over night? Your room is ready but if Bruce would rather his own, then the other guest room is yours." Laura chose to not assume they'd want to stay in the same room although she thought they probably would.

" That's what Lila was saying. " Natasha gave her a hug too." I think we'll stay til around after lunch tomorrow? " she glanced over at Bruce, who seemed a little out of place.

"Sounds good if that's what you want to do." He wondered what exactly her plans were.

"Wonderful! Now, we were just going to order pizza for dinner, it's not fancy but is that all right?" Laura led them all into the house. "Clint will have to go to town to get it, they won't deliver it out here."

"Oh, I should have given you warning, we could have gotten it and brought it in with us." Natasha was thinking, however, that the pizza run would give her the perfect opportunity to talk to Clint without everyone else. "But I'll go with you, Clint, if you don't mind."

Clint gave her a long odd stare before simply saying, "Okay."

Bruce carried the bags upstairs, following Laura as she led the way. "Now this is Nat's room, if you want to put the bags in there."

"It's a good place as any. She'll probably want to stay in here anyway." Bruce was slightly shocked at the familiarity of the room. It was much more personal then Natasha's quarters at the compound. Here were photos, most of her and the Barton children, and nicknacks from around the world, even a stuffed bear on the bed.

Laura caught him looking a little too long at that bear. "Cooper won that for her at the school fair a few years back. I'm not sure she's really the teddy bear type but she keeps it on display for him."

"She really loves those kids, doesn't she?" Bruce hadn't ever seen this side of Natasha before only glimpses when she talked about the Barton kids, which was rare since their official existence was off books and known to only a few.

"She does. I think she sees them as the kids she'll never have, to tell you the truth. It's a shame, because Nat's such a mothering type although you'd never guess it." Laura had been skeptical at first, a former KGB assassin being around her kids, but in time Natasha had won her over. As far as anyone was concerned, Auntie Nat was family through and through.

" Yes. She does like kids. Especially these kids. I think half of what she packed was for them." Bruce unzipped a bag to show Laura the toys and treats inside.

Laura shook her head. "Every damn time. I tell her she doesn't need to do that but she does it anyway. After dinner, that's when they can have the treats."

He rezipped the bag, closing up the goodies from prying eyes. "I'm sure that's going to be a big event."

"Most likely. Nat usually makes a game out of it. Come on downstairs whenever you like, I'll give you a proper introduction to the gang, make yourself at home. Clint and Nat shouldn't be too long in getting the pizza." she turned to leave but turned back. "Although that depends on what she flew all the way out here at the last minute to tell him about. You wouldn't know anything about it, would you?"

Clint drove the truck over the dirt roads to the main highway to town. Natasha sat silently next to him, suddenly very unsure of what to say and how to say it. She did not like this feeling. He turned down another dirt road, which startled her. "Clint, this isn't the way to town."

"No, it's the way to you telling me what the hell is going on. This isn't like you, to suddenly show up and drag Banner along too. You guys didn't get married or anything, did you? Because I fully expect to be invited if you do." He kept his eyes on the road.

" No, we didn't get married. No plans for that. " Natasha played with her bracelet, a dead giveaway for nervousness and she knew it but this was a safe place with her most trusted friend." I do have something to tell you though. "

The truck came to a shuddering stop. Clint cursed the brakes and turned to her. "Whatever it is, it's got you scared."

"I'm not scared." she protested.

He reached over and put his larger hand over her smaller fidgeting hand. "Tell me."

"I don't know how."

"One word at a time. We've got time. Laura and the kids won't expect us back for a bit. She knows something is up." Clint reassured her.

"All right." Natasha took a deep breath. "I know that this shouldn't be possible but it is. Bruce ran several tests and they're all positive. He doesn't even know how it could be possible." she handed him a square piece of paper.

He took it, confused. "What's this?" he turned it over and his breath caught in his throat. "Oh, Nat." She'd given him one of the sonogram photos.

"I wanted to tell you first. That's why we came like this." she explained.

"It's Bruce's, right?" Clint just had to ask.

She smacked him in the arm. "Of course it is."

"I don't even know what to say. You guys are happy about it?"

"I think we are. It's, it's, a big shock." Natasha stuttered a bit.

"If you're happy, I'm happy for you. At least now I don't have to go up against the Hulk." Clint started the car again.

A/N well that turned out way longer then I'd expected. Next up, more of Team finds out! Plus maybe dinner at the bartons just because I think Bruce feels weird there.


	5. Chapter 5

Bruce waited uncomfortably for Natasha and Clint to return. He sat in the living room while baby Nathaniel played on a blanket on the floor." Uh, is that safe? " he said out loud, watching the baby cram a toy in his mouth.

Laura popped her head in from where she and Lila were setting the table. "Yeah, he's fine. That's his toy. As long as nobody left any Legos on the floor, he should be all right for a bit if you don't mind keeping an eye on him."

"Well, okay." Bruce, who was considered one of the biggest brains on the planet, was suddenly terrified of a six month old baby. He wondered if he and Natasha were making a mistake, he certainly didn't feel ready or capable of taking care of a baby.

Cooper came running into the room and leapt over Nathaniel, which nearly gave Bruce a heart attack. He was definitely not feeling ready to parent, although Nathaniel had barely noticed or cared about his brother jumping over him.

"I saw the truck coming, Dad and Auntie Nat are almost back with the pizza!" he shouted, never stopping.

Lila raced out of the dining room and through the living room, also jumping over her baby brother in her quest to get to the pizza first. The door swung open before she could get to it first and she nearly collided into Clint. "Whoa, whoa, slow down, there's enough pizza for everyone, I promise." He told her, carefully balancing three pizza boxes. Natasha carried two more boxes, although one was smaller and had cheesesticks inside.

"Did you get pepperoni?" she asked. "I love pepperoni. Mr Bruce, do you like pepperoni, too?" she chattered on her way to the kitchen table.

"Sure. That's fine." Bruce didn't get up from the couch. Nathaniel still lay on the floor and he wasn't sure what to do with the baby, who grinned up at him, oblivious to his siblings behavior.

"Yes, we got pepperoni. We got sausage, we got mushrooms, we got ham, we got everyone's favorites." Clint put the boxes on the table and took Natasha's from her to join them with the others.

The kids scrabbled around to find their seats, starting to argue who should sit next to Auntie Nat, but the argument was halted with a look from Laura. They sat in their usual seats without any more arguing. Another chair was pulled from the corner and wedged in next to Natasha for Bruce.

"Hey, Dr Banner, the pizza's here!" Laura called out to him. "Just come sit and eat, no ceremony here. You can bring Nate, he can sit in his chair."

Bruce eyed Nathaniel. He could not recall ever actually picking a baby up before although he figured he'd better learn. Gingerly, he reached for the baby. Luckily, Nathaniel was in a good mood and didn't mind being scooped up like a football." Aw, now see that wasn't so bad, was it? Now we go join everyone and I give you back to your mom."

Natasha glanced up from helping pass out pizza when Bruce walked in carrying Nathaniel. For the first time, she could really truly see Bruce as a dad, carrying their baby. She felt the breath catch in her throat. She didn't want to be admit how simultaneously it made her feel terrified and overjoyed.

"That was a good visit." Bruce remarked as the quinjet went airbourne the next day. "I'm telling you, Laura is definitely going to throw you a baby shower."

Natasha winced inwardly. She was not thrilled with that idea at all. "Let's just get home and figure out how this is even going to work before we worry about a party nobody wants."

"I think Bruce Jr wants a party." he teased her.

"No. It's too early to think about names or baby showers or anything else." Natasha was willing to tell Clint and maybe Steve, but it was easier to hide from the truth for a while yet. "We don't even need to tell anyone else yet."

"Nat, there's going to come a point in the near future where you're not going to be able to hide it anymore." Bruce couldn't meet her eyes as she refused to turn but continued anyway, "I will do everything I can to make sure this baby, and you, are safe and healthy. We don't have to share the news with everyone yet if you don't want to but eventually they're going to figure it out, we don't work with stupid people."

"I know that." Natasha sighed. The whirlwind of the past two days was catching up to her and she was beginning to wonder if she was doing the right thing. Telling Clint had been important to her, he was her best friend and a good judge of situations when she couldn't be and she didn't feel up to judging this one herself. He'd been pretty happy for her and Bruce and that had made her feel better. Laura had been beyond thrilled to hear the news and loaded her up with baby and pregnancy books. "I don't even know what I want right now."

"I'm anxious to get back to the lab myself." Bruce changed the subject, slightly as part of the reason he wanted to get to the lab was to run tests on himself to see if a growing fetus could possibly inherit any of the Hulk's conditions. It was an experiment he'd never in a million years had ever thought would be necessary and it scared him that it was although he did not want to admit that to Natasha and give her even more reason to be nervous.

"Going to keep your promise then?" she asked.

"What promise?"

"The one where you make sure this baby isn't a mini Hulk. I'm not sure about raising a mini Hulk. I just kind of wanted a normal baby if we're going to have one." now she teased him.

"Well, yes. That is why I want to get to the lab to tell the truth. A normal baby would be best option." he chose his words carefully as he really couldn't guarantee anything yet. The sonogram had looked normal but he was still worried.

"I'm not sure I want to know the other options." Natasha didn't want to admit she was worried about those other options.

"Well, no need to. Everything is going to be just fine. You'll see. In about seven months we'll have ourselves a bouncy baby Bruce Jr."

She rolled her eyes although he didn't notice. "It could be a girl you know. And absolutely not Natasha Jr, I already have a kid named for me."

"A girl would be great too. No little Natasha huh? I'm sure we can find a Russian name." Bruce thought about it a moment. "Anastasia?"

Natasha laughed out loud at that one. "Seriously. Think about that. Also not happening."

Bruce frowned at her and then it hit him. "Ah. Well, scratch that one off." he'd been glad to hear her laugh at least, she had been getting a bit gloomy for a while. "We've got two hours of flight time to toss names around."

Bruce left a sleeping Natasha in his room and quietly shut the door. She wouldn't admit how much the past couple days had taken out of her but he'd convinced her to lay down with him. She'd been asleep within fifteen minutes. He, on the other hand, had work to do in the lab.

His lab was empty and everything seemed to be the way he'd left it when Natasha had insisted on going out to the Barton farm. Bruce always worried a bit about Tony going in and messing things up, just because Tony liked to be involved in everything. Since Sokovia though, Tony had backed off the Avengers lab and compound quite a bit. Bruce suspected part of it was the fact they had brought Wanda home after what had happened. Tony had extremely mixed feelings about the girl. Bruce did, too, which he solved by mostly avoiding her. He didn't know how to talk to a teenage girl anyway.

Bruce settled in at one of the long counters and prepared his arm for drawing blood. He hoped the Big Guy had no issues with that. He was very worried about the Hulk and this new baby situation and was trying, hopefully succeeding but he doubted it, to hide it from Natasha. He knew the Hulk seemed to like Natasha and didn't hurt her but a baby was a problem he'd never accounted for. It was time to rectify that.

Time ticked by before he noticed, he was deep in his work and focused only on it. Tony's voice made him jump a mile.

"This is very interesting. What did you do, knock up Romanoff?" Tony had strolled in and was reading the screens Bruce had put up while working. "I mean, I can't see why else you'd being doing bio work like this otherwise, unless you've got another girlfriend you've knocked up, in which case I want to see Romanoff take you down."

"Tony, I didn't hear you come in." Bruce began snapping the screens off. It had been careless to leave them up like that for anyone to walk in and see. Most of the team wouldn't have been able to understand them anyway, but of course, the one person who could was the one who walked into the lab for the first time in months.

"You didn't deny it." Tony pointed out gleefully. "You and Romanoff?"

"Tony, I swear if you say a word." Bruce didn't even try to deny it, after all, Tony had seen the work, he'd easily put two and two together, there was no point in trying to deny it.

"Who me? My lips are sealed. Want some help?" Tony began to pull the screens back up.

Bruce shot him a look. "I mean it. She doesn't want to tell everyone yet, and that's probably best because well, the Hulk is an issue."

"Explains your little trip out to the Barton farm the other day. Natasha just had to go tell Clint, didn't she?" Tony said.

"He's her best friend. She's a part of his family. They've got a long history together."

"But not any of us here? Neither of you thought to tell us?"

"I'm leaving it up to Natasha. She'll decide when to tell people. Do not tell her you've figured it out." Bruce warned. Natasha had a temper to match her hair when she wanted to.

Natasha woke slowly. The bed was warm and she had been so tired. She lay there in the dimness of the room, thinking. For the first time she let herself imagine what it could be like, being pregnant and actually having a baby that was hers. It was a dream she'd never allowed herself before, because why dream of something that could never happen?

Reality came crashing in. Two of the Avengers, having a baby together? What in the hell were they thinking? Could the baby really be a mini Hulk? She shuddered at the thought of a mini Hulk or a mini Black Widow. At least one of those options was human. Bruce had promised to do tests and research, to do the best he could and she did trust him to keep his word especially on something so important.

At that thought, Natasha wondered where Bruce was since he clearly hadn't been taking a nap too. She decided to go find him and threw the covers off.

The Avengers compound was large but the few people who lived there only used a small portion of it. She knew there was only a handful of places Bruce would be. Pulling on pants and a hoodie, Natasha headed out of her quarters towards the labs, her first option.

"For someone who makes a living sneaking around, you've just made a big error. Maybe you're in the wrong business." A familiar voice startled her.

She turned sharply to see Steve leaning against the corner, grinning at her. "What's that suppose to mean?"

"That's Bruce's shirt. I mean, we all know anyway, you two just like to pretend we don't, so it doesn't matter." He just kept smiling.

Natasha looked down at what she was wearing and groaned inwardly. It was Bruce's Culvers University hoodie. "Whatever. Its fine. Can't be a secret forever anyway."

"I'm sure you have some that will be." Steve had known her for several years and still knew very little about her.

She muttered something and tried to walk past him. "Hey. Something wrong?" he asked her. He did know her well enough to know that something wasn't quite right.

"No. Nothing is wrong exactly." she told him, making a sudden decision.

A split second later Steve found himself standing in the stairway. "I'm going to to tell you something you can't tell anyone." Natasha began.

Steve lost the smile. That sounded ominous and he didn't like it. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." she closed her eyes, somehow this was harder then telling Clint. "It's just Bruce and I had some interesting news the other day. News we really weren't expecting because it should have been impossible but I guess it's not and I don't know what to think about it yet."

"Explains the trip yesterday." he read between the lines and pulled her into a hug. "It's going to be fine, Nat. You and Bruce will be great parents." The smile returned. "I'm definitely going to be Uncle Steve, right?"

She laughed and leaned into him. "Sure, if you want. Kid's gonna need family.


	6. Chapter 6

"Nat, I think you are just going to have to tell everyone now." Bruce was watching Natasha get dressed, he was amused, she was not, as none of her pants would button. "They will definitely notice if you start wearing my sweatshirt and leggings every day." He didn't add that's what she'd been wearing the past few weeks and it had already been noticed although, wisely, nobody had mentioned it to her.

She sat on the bed next to him, and sighed."I know, I know. It's not that easy."

"Why?" he asked her. "You've told Clint and Steve, why don't you think the rest of the team will be accepting of it? They're going to be happy about it, everyone loves babies."

"Sam's already suspecting something. Wanda is curious but she's afraid of me so she hasn't said anything. I'm pretty sure Vision does know, but doesn't know what to say about it."

"Why is Wanda afraid of you?" Now Bruce was curious.

"Because of South Africa, the way she got in our heads." Natasha explained. "I've tried to tell her it's in the past, but I think she thinks we're still going to punish her for it."

"Ah." he nodded in understanding. "Well, she'll just have to be a permanent baby sitter then. Sounds fair enough." He hadn't quite let go of what the girl had done to him in South Africa. He knew she'd been influenced by the wrong people at the time, but it still bothered him what she'd been able to do and make them do, but he'd also been impressed by her resilience and commitment to the team in the battle of Sokovia and the aftermath.

" She does like kids. You should see her with Lila and Nathaniel. If Clint had had his way, I think he would've adopted her." Natasha had kind of hoped he would.

"Well, good, we've got a baby sitter lined up. And two uncles on standby." Bruce hadn't mentioned Tony had known for a while, surprisingly, the man had not spilled the beans yet. He hadn't known Tony could actually keep a secret.

"Tonight, I guess. At dinner, or maybe after dinner." Natasha said, slowly. "At least then I'll have an excuse to keep wearing your shirts without having to come up with a story."

"All right. Good plan. You know, there's a way we might be able to find out the gender and announce that too." he added, slyly. With all tests he'd been running, that was the one he hadn't done yet. It was on his docket, if only because it'd also check for chromosome defects.

It was a good long minute before Natasha answered." No. I don't think I want to know. This is probably my only shot at this whole pregnancy thing and I don't think I want to find out the gender."

"Okay." Bruce didn't tell her he had to run the test anyway. If she didn't want to know, he wouldn't tell her. He sat up and pushed the covers away. "I've got lab work to do today. What have you got planned?"

"Well, since I made the stupid mistake of telling Rogers, not much. He's paranoid to let me in the gym anymore, even after I showed him in one of the pregnancy books that it's good to remain active as long as possible." She was rather annoyed at Steve.

Bruce turned from the closet, where he was picking out a shirt from the few she'd left him," You want me to explain it to him, too? As long as you don't overdo and go crazy, training is fine. "

" No. It's all right. Guess he thinks I need to take up knitting or something. He can be a little old fashioned."

"Well, he is a hundred years old. Women in his day weren't like you." To be fair, Bruce didn't know many women like Natasha anyway and still woke up in the morning wondering how he'd gotten her.

Now that she'd made up her mind to tell everyone, it was time to figure out how to get everyone home for dinner. Natasha looked over the digital planner Tony had set up for them. Ideally, everyone was supposed to put in their plans so they always knew where each other, or at least had an idea where people were, in case of emergency. It didn't always work, not everyone put in their plans, but it worked out all right in most cases. She saw that Wanda had one of her GED classes in the afternoon, Sam was heading into the city for one of his group sessions, Rhodey hoped to be back at the compound that evening from his Washington meetings, Steve had put nothing down although Natasha wasn't sure he actually knew how to use the planner, and Tony's name claimed to be doing Ironman lab work. Vision had never put anything in the planner as he rarely left the compound.

Her eyes narrowed as she read his entry. "Lab work, my ass." she muttered. She'd put money on it he was in Bruce's lab doing research with Bruce instead of working on a new suit. If Bruce had told him, she'd probably have to smack him. Or Tony. Or both of them.

Natasha looked at the clock. It was lunchtime. Bruce never remembered to eat when he was deep in his work. Bringing him his lunch would be the perfect excuse to find out just what Tony was doing and what he knew. She'd never known Tony to actually keep a secret, so there was some doubt he knew the full secret.

Quickly, she slapped together a few peanut butter sandwiches. It wasn't fancy but Bruce already knew if he wanted a housewife, she wasn't going to be that person. He was lucky to be getting a plastic plate instead of a paper napkin because she wouldn't have dirtied the plate for herself. But when in search of information, the little touches mattered, Natasha well knew.

Adding a few cookies to the plate and a cold soda, she made her way to Bruce's lab. Sure enough, both men were in the same lab, each talking over the other like children. She stood in the middle of the doorway and waited for one of them to notice her. It took a bit longer than she'd thought it would.

"Romanoff has brought lunch, Dr Banner." Tony remarked, ever his sarcastic self.

"I don't think she's here for you." Bruce replied.

"I'm not sure I'm here for you either unless you can tell me why he's helping you." Natasha walked into the room and put the plate down.

The men exchanged semi guilty glances. "To be fair, I didn't tell him anything." Bruce began.

"That's true, he did not. Banner here was doing work, what, three weeks ago, and I saw the work and put two and two together. I offer congratulations, Red." Tony hurriedly explained.

"Thank you. I think." Natasha let it go and accepted the semi apology. She'd known Tony long enough to know he genuinely meant it and the fact he'd kept her secret for three weeks meant a lot.

"It is, of course, Banner's here, right? He assured me it was but he might just think that." Tony couldn't resist a barb which was typical.

She shot him a glance that a lesser man would have wilted under. "Don't even start. Of course, it's Bruce's, do I have time to see anyone else in between keeping track of everyone here and saving your ass?"

Bruce chose to stay quiet in this exchange. Not because he thought it even remotely possible that the baby wasn't his, but because it was just easier when barbs were flying. He knew well that both Tony and Natasha could give as well as the other. He quietly busied himself with a new test, one he hoped Natasha would let him take the full results of as he wanted very much to find out the gender. He did not want to do so with Tony in the room, however, because that secret might just be too much.

"Saving my ass? Why, I'm stunned you think it's an ass worth saving. I mean, of course, women have liked it before, especially a certain one, but," Tony rambled on in his usual way.

"Let me just put a stop to that. Pepper will thank me for it." Natasha did not want to hear his ramble about his ass.

Tony shrugged. "Your loss. You know, Banner, back in the day, SHIELD put her undercover in my office."

"I know." Bruce thought he might even know more of her past then Tony did.

"It was basically her job to flirt with me."

"Yet, she sleeps with me." Bruce couldn't help pointed out.

"Touche. Point for Banner." Tony said.

"Enough, guys." Natasha broke in. "Keep the secret til I say otherwise, Tony, got it?"

"Whatever you say, Red."

She turned to Bruce. "I'm trying to get everyone home for dinner. Sam and Wanda will be in the city til late, but we should be able to have everyone here by eight." she took one of the cookies off his plate, smacked Tony's hand when he tried.

"Oh, so tonight, huh? I only have to keep the secret til tonight? Good to know." Tony said, mockingly rubbing his hand like he'd been hurt.

"I wouldn't take her cookies if I were you." Bruce popped open the soda, turned back to his computer screen.

"Technically, they're your cookies. She gave them to you."

"Forget the cookies, Tony. Invite Pepper out here tonight if she's not too busy." Natasha told him.

"Oh. About her, she knows." he admitted, sheepishly.

She groaned. "Of course she does. It doesn't matter, all right? Just don't tell anyone else." She left the lab, swiping another cookie off the plate.

Steve watched Natasha punch the bag repeatedly. "You know," he began.

"It's absolutely fine to work out, Rogers, and if you even try that argument again, I will turn you into the punching bag." she warned him.

He thought it wise to stifle a laugh but couldn't quite hide the smile. "Actually, I know you're right. What I was going to say is that perhaps I should take over some of the training lessons from you. I mean, there's going to come a point where they're going to be difficult for you."

Natasha didn't answer at first. Things were beginning to change and she wasn't sure she was ready for it." Yeah. You could do that. We'll work out some kind of schedule, all right? " she allowed.

" Good. Now, about tonight, low key dinner with the big announcement or fancy?" Steve sounded almost gleeful, which didn't win him any points.

"Whatever you guys want to eat. I haven't thought about it much yet." she lied. The truth was she had no idea how to announce such a thing. It was one thing quietly telling Clint or Steve, entirely another to announce to everyone at once.

"Sam mentioned wanting to pick up some Chinese. That sound okay? He could bring enough for everyone." Steve suggested.

"Sound good. Remind him to pick up Wanda too." Natasha sounded a bit distracted now, lost in thought.

"He will. He's never forgotten her yet. I'll let him know to get enough for everyone." Steve started to leave and turned back. "Hey, Natasha."

"Yeah?"

"It's going to be fine. You'll see." On that note, he disappeared, leaving Natasha staring after him.

When everyone gathered in the large dining room, it was always a loud racket. It had never bothered Natasha before, it rather reminded her that she was a part of something and had a family. She was glad that this baby would have a loving family from the start.

She sat back in the corner and let everyone else fight over the food. She was too nervous to eat. Bruce noticed her sitting off, almost by herself. He came over and pulled a chair next to her. "They're going to be less freaked then you are." he said.

"Who said I was freaked?" she questioned him.

"You've lost your poker face and look like a deer in the headlights." Bruce shoved rice in his mouth before he could say anything else.

Natasha gave him a glare. "Really? All right then, I'm going to tell everyone right now." she stood up.

Bruce nearly choked on his rice. He hadn't expected her to take the bait so quickly. He reached out for her sweater sleeve but didn't catch it as she walked to the front of the room.

Nobody noticed Natasha in the front of the room either, so busy were they dishing out food and snarky comments to each other. She waited til there was a slight lull on the chatter and began to speak. "Hey, um, everyone."

Just then a shower of balloons and confetti fell, raining all over her and everyone else. A banner suddenly unfurled on the opposite wall, Congratulations Natasha and Bruce.

Her first thought after the shock was that Tony was a dead man walking.


	7. Chapter 7

Silence fell over the room. Natasha wasn't sure if it was the confetti or the banner or just the weirdness of it all. Then everyone began talking at once.

"Did you two run off and get married?" Sam ventured a question.

"Nope. Look at that confetti, pink and blue." Rhodes sounded more confident.

"I am not sure of the significance of pink and blue confetti." Vision didn't seem to know something for once.

Bruce spoke up to end the queries. "No, we didn't get married. But yes, we are expecting a baby."

Silence. Natasha was pretty sure she could hear the proverbial crickets.

"It's fantastic news." Pepper, who'd already known, wrapped Natasha in a hug. "I'll help you kill Tony later. Promise I didn't know about the confetti." she whispered.

"At least he picked both colors." Natasha whispered back. She wouldn't have been surprised to find Tony did know the gender, nothing would surprise her at this point.

Everyone began talking at once again, high fiving Bruce and hugging Natasha.

"I told you everyone would be happy." Steve told her. "You guys are good together, this is going to be a great thing."

"I hope you are right." she answered. "It's a bit late to get out of it."

He smiled at her. "I know I'm right. Absolutely. Besides, I get to be uncle Steve, never been an uncle before." he said. "Oh, hey, Wanda, you're going to be auntie Wanda, right?"

Wanda had been sitting quietly by herself, the only one not really celebrating. "I do not know how to be an auntie."

"Then we'll learn together, and teach the baby how to be a mini avenger." Steve seemed proud of that, but both Natasha and Wanda rolled their eyes.

"It's a baby, Steve, not a super soldier. Bruce has been running all sorts of tests and experiments, it's just a normal baby." Natasha insisted.

"Boy or girl?" Wanda asked.

"I don't know. I don't think I want to find out but I think I may have to. Pretty sure Bruce knows." Natasha looked across the room to see Bruce grinning like a fool, surrounded by the guys. "And if he knows, Tony will soon, so I probably should find out first."

"It will be fun to decorate a nursery. Baby clothes are also very adorable. It will be good to know if it is boy or girl so you know what to buy." Wanda added.

"She's right. It'll be easier to plan a baby shower too." Pepper joined in. "Thought about any names or nursery themes yet?"

Natasha stared at her a minute. "It's pretty early yet. I don't think we've really thought about much." Frantically, she wondered if they were supposed to have things planned already, it wasn't like this was something she'd ever thought about actually doing. She had figured they still had almost five months, that enough time to pick out names and nurseries, wasn't it?

"I'd start thinking. I'm going to assume that you and Bruce will need a bigger quarters or maybe we could just build a place for you guys, I mean, there's 100 acres here, it would not be difficult to put in a place for you."

"They already live together." Wanda pointed out. "Even if they think nobody knows." she smirked slyly. Steve hid a grin, for a spy, Natasha hadn't hidden the relationship as well as she thought she had.

"That's none of your business." Natasha pointed out to her. "I don't butt into your relationships."

"You would, if I had one."

"I don't know that matters now. Let's just focus on this news for the night." Pepper was ever the peace maker. Sometimes she felt although she was the only adult in the room when it came to dealing with the Avengers.

"It is true though. For a super spy, you weren't that secretive about it." Steve joined back in.

"It was nobody's business and still isn't." Natasha told him. "It's just going to be harder to keep you all out of it now."

"They mean well, Nat. I think." Pepper glanced around. It was a strange sort of family, but it was indeed a family, and they did usually mean well when it came to each other. She well knew this baby was coming into a group of people that would love him or her and protect him or her fiercely.

Bruce waited til later that night to corner Natasha. He had an important question to ask her. "So, um, I was thinking about something important." he began.

"Please don't tell me Clint or Steve got to you and you've got a ring in that bag. I told you, we don't have to get married too." she sounded wary.

"Well, no. Although if I thought you'd say yes, I probably would. I'm a bit old fashioned you know."

"Nothing like Steve is. Don't make me have two parties."

Bruce squinted at her. "I'm sorry?"

"It's bad enough that Pepper and Laura are planning a baby shower, don't give them a wedding to plan too. In fact, if we ever did decide to get married, we should just elope to Vegas or something." Natasha finished fluffing the pillows on her side of Bruce's bed and got into it.

" It sounds like a plan. But that's not what I wanted to say actually. " he sat down beside her. He wasn't too unhappy to hear she'd actually thought about the possibility of marriage at least. "You know I've been running tests, experiments, lab work, trying to make sure this is a normal baby."

She sat up right and looked right at him. "Don't tell me you find something." she was almost afraid to ask.

"No, no. Everything that I've seen looks just fine. Normal baby. But this one test I've run, and I promise you I haven't looked at the results yet, also tells the gender. Now, we don't have to find out right now, but if Tony keeps messing with my work instead of his, there's a good chance he might find out. You know it won't be a secret then. "

" True. " she looked thoughtful." So you think we should read these results together? What else are they for? "

" It's from the blood work I did the other day, testing for genetic problems mostly. I didn't see anything amiss there other then the father being the Hulk." he quipped, getting a small smile out of her.

"I don't know anything about my biological family." Natasha was quiet, thinking. "I suppose this is a bit like a mission."

Bruce blinked. "What?"

She explained, "Before a mission, you need as much information as possible, so you can get through it alive. I suppose preparing for a baby is similar."

"Ah. Okay." he wasn't quite sure where this was leading. His only job during missions was smash. After missions he had the job of stitching wounds and setting bones because it seemed nobody could get through a mission without some kind of blood loss or broken bone.

"So, it might be a good idea to find out after all. That way we can prepare for one or the other, it seems to be important to know." Natasha explained.

"Okay." he nodded. He picked up his tablet off the night table. "Are you sure? I can pull the results up right now if you are."

"Point of no return, huh?" she gave him another small smile. "I think it'd be a good idea. More information is always best, right?" she didn't sound her usual super assured self, confident in everything and anything. Bruce worried a bit about her but wisely said nothing

"Okay." He was rather excited, more so then he'd first realized when first bringing up the idea to Natasha. His fingers trembled a bit as he tapped across the screen. "You sure about it? Because we don't have to know this minute, we could wait, even to the end." he hesitated.

"Let's do it. Before Tony does it for us and tells everyone before we know." Natasha said. "Tony can't keep a secret."

Bruce shrugged. That was true he knew and he also knew there was a pretty good chance of Tony finding out. "He did manage to keep ours for a while there."

She leaned back into her pile of pillows. "He did. Very uncharacteristic of him. But you're stalling. We've decided to find out, so let's find out."

And I leave on a cliffhanger of sorts. Boy or girl? Im pretty sure what I've chosen but ideas/names are welcomed. Sorry for the long delay, I work retail and Christmas season was crazy.


	8. Chapter 8

Bruce couldn't help but smile. A daughter. He could envision her with long red curls and Natasha's green eyes, toddling after him in the lab, twirling in a little pink princess dress and crown, and yes, even learning to kick ass, she'd be Natasha's daughter after all.

Natasha had a different reaction. She had been so sure it'd be a boy, though she hadn't said so to anyone. Raising a girl scared her like nothing else, the only sort of raising girls she knew was the Red Room, and that certainly wouldn't do. A boy would've been different, a boy would've been a clean slate, there'd been no boys in the Red Room. She looked up at Bruce and found nothing but happiness in his eyes.

"What, were you expecting me to say something different? A girl will be great." Bruce was a little confused in her reaction.

"Yes. I guess I was expecting you to say boy. I don't know what to do with girls." Natasha paused. "Or really any kids."

"Now, that's not true. I've seen you with Clint's kids, you're great with them and they adore you."

"I can give them back. This will be different, there's no handing the baby back."

Bruce laughed. "Nat, I doubt we'll ever be completely on our own with the baby. We've got built in baby sitters. Sure, at the end of the day, this little girl is ours to take care of, because they'll hopefully give her back, but you're not doing this alone. I wouldn't want you to. Besides, what do I know about babies either? " In fact, Bruce could not remember the last time he'd actually been in charge of a child, the five minutes in the Barton living room not really counting.

" Guess it's a mission we'll have to figure out together, huh? " Natasha leaned into him." You know that Laura and Pepper are going to go crazy now planning pink everything? They'll want to know our every plan before we even know what we're doing."

"We'll manage it. Somehow. Maybe she'll prefer purple."

"Or green." she couldn't help but joke.

Bruce shuddered at the thought of his little girl, whom he was already fiercely protective of, wanting or being green. "I told you, just a baby. The Hulk has been quiet for a while now. Maybe she'll have your strength instead." He sincerely hoped so. The Hulk still worried him, but the tests had been conclusive, just a normal baby girl. Hulk himself was another story.

"I suppose we should start planning things like nurseries and names before the team does it for us." Natasha remarked.

"Yes. I think I'll talk to Tony or Pepper tomorrow." Bruce replied. "We could either have bigger combined quarters, build a place of our own, or move off the compound entirely."

She looked around her quarters. It wasn't huge, but there was certainly room for a crib, maybe even space to block off like a small nursery. "How much room does a baby need anyway? Crib, perhaps a changing table, little dresser, none of those take up a lot of room."

"I don't actually know." Bruce was mystified by the whole idea of a nursery. He had never thought it would be something that he'd have to think about.

Natasha laughed. "Mr 7 PhDs actually doesn't know something?"

"You do know none of those about babies? Except maybe the medical doctorate." He was fairly sure none of them involved parenting either. Briefly he wondered if he could get another in parenting, did such a thing exist?

"None of my training involves babies. The only training about babies was how not to get pregnant and then the ceremony to make sure you didn't." she was somber for a moment. "I'm sure I'm the only one it failed for."

"It'll be our own mission together then."

Clint whistled as he landed the quinjet onto the landing pad atop the compound. He and the family had been invited to a party. He was fairly sure Natasha had figured a way to use this get together as a way to get out of having an official baby shower.

"Did Auntie Nat have the baby yet?" Lila leaned forward.

"No, not yet, four more months." Laura explained for what was the thousandth time.

"Does she know if it's a boy or a girl? I hope it's a girl, we have too many boys already." Lila persisted.

"If she does, she hasn't told anyone. Natasha is very good at keeping secrets." Clint told her.

Laura snorted. "You mean the way she had an entire relationship right under your nose and you never noticed, Hawkeye?"

"I am never going to live that down." He groaned, helping unstrap Lila and Nathaniel from their seats.

"Bruce is cool." Cooper shrugged, he didn't need help getting out his flight seat.

"That's Dr Banner to you." Laura said, gathering up some of the multiple bags.

"He said we could call him Bruce if we wanted." he protested. "Auntie Nat agreed."

"Well, we'll see." Clint let it slide,taking a few bags from Laura as the kids ran ahead.

"If she's Auntie Nat I guess he's Uncle Bruce." Laura mused as they walked down the ramp. "That could work."

Clint didn't say anything. He didn't hate Bruce but considering him a bona-fide family member was an entirely different mind set then he could imagine. He still didn't see whatever it was Natasha saw in the guy, but she was happy and really, that's all Clint had ever wanted for her. _

Natasha was in her quarters surrounded by boxes. If the shower wasnt bad enough, they'd also decided that it was moving weekend, the thinking being everyone would be there to help out. Tony had hired contractors and decorators and all sorts of people and had a small place built in a matter of days for her and Bruce. Tony refused to take any sort of payment for it, calling it a baby shower gift /wedding gift if they also decided to marry.

Nobody could accuse her or Bruce of being traditional, that was for sure. Baby, house, no real mention of marriage from either of them although she was fairly sure Bruce would go for it, he did like traditional ways more then she did. She had begun to wonder again what the hell they had been thinking.

"Boxes don't pack themselves." Steve normally would have knocked but the door was open and he'd noticed Natasha just standing in the middle of the room, staring at a blank wall.

He startled her. "Anyone ever tell you not to sneak up on a pregnant woman, Rogers?" she said,annoyed.

"You. Yesterday." he strolled into the room, hands in his pockets. "But I come in peace." he pulled a candy bar out of his pocket as his peace offering. "I bring you chocolate and a set of hands to help out."

She sighed. "Why is it I can never remain annoyed at you very long?" she took the chocolate, and brushed a pile of jackets off a nearby chair so she could sit and eat it.

"That's because we're basically family. Family accepts annoyances and forgives them." Steve told her, matter of fact, putting the tossed aside jackets in a box. "There, you've got something packed."

"Now do that times one hundred and we'll be done." she looked around the room. It was the first home she remembered truly having a family in, the first place she'd truly been a part of something, and she was rather reluctant to leave it. It wasn't like they couldn't have crammed baby stuff in somewhere.

"You're not really leaving, Nat. It's only a few minutes down the road, the three of you will be here constantly anyway."

Damn Rogers and how he could always read her mind. "You'd have made a good spy."

"Wrong kind of business for me." Steve shook his head. He pulled another box off a chair. "These are the tiniest clothes I've ever seen." he said, holding up a tiny onesie.

"Those came from Pepper. Laura is bringing some hand me downs today." Natasha had to admit they were awfully tiny, tinier then she'd realized newborns were.

"I saw their jet coming in not long ago, so expect them anytime." he folded the tiny outfit and put in back in the box. "No pink or blue? Like everyone else in the compound, he'd been trying to find out." I find it fascinating the gender can be known before birth. "

" We're telling everyone today. " she reminded him.

" But Tony knows. "

" He does. And I have to admit, he has surprised me, I didn't know he could keep a secret." It had been Tony's idea to keep the secret til Bruce and Natasha wanted to tell.

" Either way, you know that kid is going to be both smart and powerful, has to be with you two as parents. "

" And spoiled rotten by Uncle Steve? " she asked, dryly.

" Hey, now, I've never had a niece or nephew, I will admit to being excited." he closed up a third box of bedding, he'd been working while they'd chatted.

" Hmm. I have it on good authority you're hiding a box of toys in your quarters." she asked him, already knowing the answer.

" And I will admit to that. I had no idea children's toys could be so interesting." Steve didn't even bother to hide it.

"You do realize that the kid won't even be able to hold up their head for at least a few months, right?" Natasha said, amused by the thought of Steve in a modern toy store.

"Don't ruin my fun."

Bruce was hiding in his lab. He wouldn't have admitted it to anyone, not even Natasha, but he was hiding. The baby shower and moving day all at once was getting to him. The stress of being an expectant father, who was absolutely terrified that his lab work was going to be wrong and it'd really be a baby Hulk, was getting to him. He remembered once he'd told Natasha they should run and now he was thinking maybe he should've taken his own advice. What kind of father could he possibly be, how could he risk Natasha and this baby with the uncertainty of the Hulk?

"You know, I'm not the best at relationships, in fact I'm really not sure how I've held onto Pepper for so long, but talking to Romanoff probably would be better then hiding in your lab." Tony strolled in. "Also, guests are arriving. The Bartons landed moments ago."

"There's nothing wrong in our relationship." Bruce told him.

"I didn't say there was. Babies can bring out the best and the worst in people." Tony shrugged. It was one of the few things he didn't know much about, he was merely quoting one of Pepper's magazines. He could say, privately, in his mind, that he wouldn't mind having a kid or two with Pepper. He'd never admitted it out loud, even to Pepper. "You know, no matter what might happen out there, in the real world, that baby girl will always be taken care of here. She's got family."

For Tony, that was uncharacteristically caring. Bruce was impressed. "Nat and I know that. And we both thank you all for it." he sighed. "It's going to be a wild ride in a few months."

"Our science is right. You know it, I know it, I've got Pepper on media control, all you gotta do is move into that nice big place I had built for you and settle into your new life." Tony was confident as always.

Bruce winced inwardly a bit. Tony had not seemed to listen, as usual, to any sort of suggestions about the house and he wasn't quite sure what they'd be walking into later that afternoon." It was very kind of you to offer the place. I'm sure Natasha and I will enjoy it."

"No worries, it's been baby proofed. I hope." Tony was pretty happy with how the house how turned out.

A/n I did not mean to abandon this story as long as I did. Holidays and pandemics will do that, especially since I am an essential worker. I have published a couple one shots and started a podcast in the time being :) enjoy and stay safe!


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